House price growth rate slows to 0.5%

HOUSE prices grew by just 0.5% in January, their slowest rate in a year, the latest survey of prices nationally shows.

According to the survey by PermanentTSB and the Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI), house price growth rates are showing signs of slowing down, though the average house now costs €235,156 €30,000 more than in January last year. The price of second-hand houses rose by buy just 0.2% in the month, down from 1.2% in December, but new house prices rose by 1% in January. This figure was expected to be smaller given the record number of new homes built last year.

Overall, new house prices grew by 12.5% in 2003 and 13.2% for second-hand houses. The average price paid for a new house last month was €225,805, while a second-hand house cost €241,819.